AFL-CIO Presidential Endorsement Process

Las Vegas
AFL-CIO Executive Council statement

1. The AFL-CIO will encourage every affiliate to a) educate its members  on the critical issues that will be debated in the presidential campaign and b) provide  ample opportunity for members to hear and learn about all the candidates and for the  candidates to hear directly from union members about their concerns and priorities. 
2. The AFL-CIO will ask every affiliate to take no action to endorse any candidate until the General Board of the Federation can make a decision whether or not to endorse a candidate prior to the primaries, and, if so, which candidate to support.  
3. The AFL-CIO will organize a series of grassroots Working Family Issue Forums during the spring and early summer of 2007.  These gatherings will be designed to a) allow members to discuss among themselves the issues that are important to them in this election, b) learn more about these issues and the views of the labor movement on them  and c) provide feedback and input into the labor movement’s decision process.  
4. The AFL-CIO will host a series of Discussions with the Candidates across the country, in which each major candidate can discuss with union members the major issues and the concerns of America’s workers.  
5. The AFL-CIO will host a series of meetings with union presidents and all major candidates of both parties who wish to participate.  The AFL-CIO also will host a series of meetings with the political staff of the major candidates and the political staff of the Federation and union affiliates.  
6. The AFL-CIO will provide issue reports for use by unions, comparing the positions of the major candidates on the key issues of concern to the unions of the Federation.  The Federation also will provide other materials and resources, including interactive online resources, enabling union members to learn about the candidates and provide their own feedback for the endorsement process.  
7. The AFL-CIO will host a Candidates’ Forum in Chicago in August to hear from all the major candidates.  Candidates will be invited to the forum depending on a) their support of labor movement goals and b) their ability to run and win a presidential race.  
8. The AFL-CIO Executive Committee will meet in late spring to evaluate this endorsement process and make any adjustments, and the AFL-CIO Executive Council will review this process at its summer meeting in Chicago. The General Board will convene, upon the call of the president of the Federation and the Executive Committee, at an appropriate time, most likely in the fall of 2007, to discuss the campaign and to decide if any candidate deserves consideration for support by the national AFL-CIO prior to the 2008 primaries and caucuses.  An endorsement by the General Board will require a two-thirds per capita membership vote.